The Impact of my First Open Classroom - Using the Geography of the School to Develop Understanding about Trench Warfare

My students discuss tactics in my open classroom

This week we have begun an open classroom initiative in my faculty. The aim being for staff within the faculty to showcase their teaching and learning and to allow other members of the faculty to visit their lessons and see what they can use in their own teaching. This type of activity is not really alien in the school I work in but formalising it over a month period has given us the focus to visit each others' lessons and develop our pedagogy.

One of my lessons this week focused on introducing the concept of trench warfare to year 8. The head of faculty came out to watch my lesson and see how he could apply it to his own geography and history lessons.

I wanted the students to develop an understanding based around the following lesson outcomes:
+ Be able to show the layout of the battlefield. (Lv4)
+ Explain why it was difficult to attack the enemy trenches. (Lv5)
+ Begin to justify whether you agree with the view that 'The British Tactics were the main reason why the attacks failed' (Lv6/7)

This lesson was an open classroom in another sense as I used the school grounds to help develop the students understanding. As we were outside the students used their iPads to record what they had learnt and uploaded this to Edmodo.

We began by looking at the layout of the battlefield. To do this I took the students onto a path that runs between our two sports fields. The landscape of our school proved useful as I was able to show where the German trenches would be (on a higher ridge above the field), where the British trenches would be, where no mans' land was and how the British would go about attacking the German trenches. The students used Educreations to quickly show their understanding. Two examples are below:

One students work

Another students work

We then moved onto the tennis courts and used the wire fence and gate to highlight the issues caused by the barbed wire. Students found the gap in the wire (school fence) and then saw how easy it was for the machine gunner to focus their fire on the gap in the wire.

Whilst we were discussing this the students made notes and completed an Edmodo assignment explaining why it was difficult to attack the German trenches. One example is below:

One major factor that made it difficult to attack Germany's trenches was the fact that they were on higher ground, and had a better angle to shoot at the British. They would have an advantage throughout, unless the British were to successfully attack and take their trenches.

Another reason why it was difficult to attack the enemy trenches because both sides stayed underground out of the reach of bullets and shells. This meant that if one side was to go overground to attack, they would be sitting ducks for the enemy to shoot them. 

It was also difficult to attack the enemy's trenches was because the Germans had massive coils of barbed wire that obstructed the British's path. The British soldiers would've had to sneak through small gaps whilst machine guns aimed directly at them. This made the number of soldiers who actually made it to the other side so few, and unable to make an effective attack.

As a plenary / review activity the students then justified whether they agreed with the statement 'The British Tactics were the main reason why the attacks failed'. This was then completed for homework and will form the start of the next lesson.

Reflections on the lesson
+ Taking the students out of the classroom worked really well. They were able to engage with the topic and using the school field in this way made it easier for them to imagine the layout of the battle and how difficult it was to launch a successful attack.
+ Using the iPads in this way meant that the quality of the discussions and learning could be recorded in a way that will aid the learning in future lessons. The iPads maximised the productivity of the students as they moved around the field.

Reflections on the open classroom 'observation'
Below is a photo of the teacher who came to visit my lesson using what he had seen and applying it to his own teaching. This shows the value of taking time to go and see what other teachers are doing in their lessons. This obviously justifies the open classroom initiative and highlights the impact it can have.

Added to that, seeing a colleague incorporate what they have seen in my lesson into their own has given me a real boost. So often in teaching we focus on what needs improving that it is easy to lose sight of what we are doing well. The open classroom initiative has forced us as a faculty to focus on what we are doing that works well; for this reason alone I would strongly recommend it.

The impact of the open classroom

The Impact of Personalised Video Feedback on Sixth Form History Essays

This year I have been working on videoing the feedback that I am giving to my sixth form students. My AS class produced an essay on the extent to which Hitler's consolidation of power was achieved in a legal manner. I then videod the feedback and the students used the feedback to improve their original draft using DIRT. Initial reactions suggested that this method was a very effective way of disseminating feedback with the student voice being very positive and the DIRT showing that the students had made real progress towards their targets.

A 'A' grade student clearly showing progress towards their targets

A 'C' grade student clearly showing progress towards their targets 

Student voice explaining how effective the video feedback was

Looking at what the students produced in their books and what they thought about the activity only got me so far. Yes, I was pleased with the impact that the video had on the students and their DIRT but would it have lasting impact?

The students then produced a second essay on the reality of the 'Economic Miracle' within Nazi Germany. There were some similarities with the first essay as they both looked at 'how far' and both asked the students to engage with an opening statement. I therefore felt that the students would be able to apply some of the targets that they received in the previous essay to this one.

The students selected three targets that they received last time and applied them to this essay. In some cases these targets were formed through a bit of consultation with me; as some students picked very specific targets that needed broadening slightly. That said all of the targets truly reflected the feedback that I had given the students.

When the students handed their essays in and I videod my feedback I began by focusing on these three targets and whether I had felt that the students had met them. If they hadn't met them, or they were still working towards them, I then offered further advice to help them achieve their targets.

A student uses the video and her own opinion to assess her progress against her targets

Using the video feedback in this way felt a lot more 'joined up' than before and the impact was clear as students who had missed one of the videos didn't make as much progress as those who had benefited from both. A example of the type of video I produced is below:

In terms of the actual impact, of the 9 students (producing 27 targets) who had both videos, 11 targets were met outright, with 13 targets being partially met and 3 not being met.

Obviously, I don't have a control group to measure this against but it does feel like the video feedback has had an impact that is greater than simply writing out the feedback. I would usually expect a higher number of targets not met across 9 students. Although I have no evidence, I believe that the figure would be close to half without the video feedback. The video below is a video blog of the process (it is an updated version of the video in the previous blog post):

Using video feedback to increase the impact of sixth form marking

This is the video blog detailing my TLC focus and the impact it has had.

Below are the feedback videos that I made:

Below are some photos of the students DIRT. One student is targeted a grade A the other a grade C:

The Power of Collaboration and Digital Literacy - My Red Kite Day 2014 #RKD3

The Context
On Friday 27th June I attended #RKD3 an event held in Harrogate for the schools in the Red Kite Alliance. The day started and ended with some inspirational Keynote addresses from @LiquidThinker and Rosie Swale Pope. They were brilliant but in this post I want to focus on the middle part of the day and how I was involved in a piece of collaborative problem solving.

The Central Tensions

This was an opportunity, either side of lunch, for staff to get together in departments and focus on 'Central Tensions' that are important to all of the schools in the Red Kite Alliance.

The aim of these two sessions was to work with colleagues from other schools, who were part of the same department, on strategies focused around these 'Central Tensions'. Working together in the first session and presenting our ideas in the second.

We focused on 'From Description to Evaluation' and applied this to the history context of GCSE cartoon source analysis.

1) The Collaboration
I was pleased that we decided on this topic because cartoon sources are notoriously difficult. Students struggle to both describe the source and then evaluate that description. This is also a perennial challenge for history teachers. I have tried to use Solo Taxonomy in the past and had some success but I was keen to develop and learn from the other teachers.

Students struggle to...

We began by focusing on a source and brainstorming the problems that students had with answering cartoon questions of this type. It was positive to see that other history teachers in different schools had found similar problems as I have had. 

                          

Having outlined the problems we decided on a solution that focused around a starter activity that would allow the students to engage with the source that they would be looking at in that lesson. We wanted to produce a generic activity that would work with every GCSE cartoon source.

We decided to produce a series of cards that could be dealt out as the students came into the room. These cards would either be based around description or evaluation. Depending on their target grade the students would have to answer a different number of description and evaluation questions. Description questions are in red and evaluation questions are in green:

+ Grade C/D students would have to answer three description questions and one evaluation question.

+ Grade B students would have to answer two description questions and two evaluation questions.

+ Grade A*/A students would have to answer one description question and three evaluation questions.

The differentiation

We thought it was important to ensure that all students answered at least one describe question as description is an important aspect of the lower levels of the mark scheme. Also it is difficult to evaluate if you haven't already described.

The questions.

Within the activity the students would not aim to answer all of the questions just four. The card nature of this activity could allow for further collaboration or a more individual focus depending on the class. The cards themselves would be laminated. The differentiated background could also be laminated with the source cut out and placed in the middle and post-its used to complete the activity. The idea would be that this activity could be used a number of times over the year. We believed that this would allow the students to familiarise themselves with the activity and the important distinction between description and evaluation. The different questions and possibilities would also keep it fresh. We also believed that the activity would prepare students with practice at asking the type of questions that they should try and ask of the cartoon sources within the exam.

Reflections
+ Firstly, it was reassuring. To hear other teachers in the group talk about the difficulties they face with this common problem reassured me and us all that we were doing a good job.
+ It was great to work with other history teachers on a common problem. To get other perspectives was really helpful and I will definitely be using the idea we came up with.
+ All the staff were eager to make the most of the rare opportunity to collaborate in this way.
+ I certainly couldn't have produced a resource of this quality on my own.
+ I think it is important to always role model what you want from your students. Even though they didn't see this (unless they saw it on Twitter) I believe we, as a group, did role model what we expect from our students.

2) The Digital Literacy
Whilst another member of the group was producing a large sheet with our ideas and solutions I decided to make a Keynote presentation on my iPad of what we were doing. Whilst doing this I was still able to contribute to the group work but I wanted to make something of lasting significance because I believe that too often the excellent ideas created on a day like this are wasted because we cannot take them away in a form that can be used. The slides you have seen already are from the Keynote I made (I used Popplet for the mind-mapped parts).

I would like to point out that I do not consider myself an absolute whizz on the iPad (there are others within my department who are far more proficient then me) I was still able to quickly make the presentation and keep contributing.

Once we had finished the presentation I then copied my Keynote to iCloud and tweeted the link out.

This meant that the Keynote could be accessed by everyone in the history session because you do not need to hold a twitter account to view my tweets and we displayed twitter.com/westylish on the big sheet when we gave the presentation after lunch.


This meant that not only could the teachers in the history cohort hear our presentation but they could see it too (either on their devices 'live' or at home on a computer) if they chose.

Reflections
+ All the staff in our group were pleased to have a copy of our presentation to take away from the session.
+ The presentation looked professional and provided a clear structure for implementing this activity.
+ The tweet was retweeted 6 times by other members at the #RKD3 this shows that others were also interested in what we produced. These people would obviously not have been able to see this as they were not in the room.
+ I had never shared a link on iCloud before but it was easy and straightforward. Staff could download the presentation in either a PowerPoint, Keynote or PdF which made it very accessible.
+ None of the other groups created a presentation and shared it. This made ours stand out. The presentation had a final 'feel' to it and I think this made us work harder to make sure that we were happy with the content than we would have been just using the big paper sheet.
+ I think it is important to always role model what you want from your students. Even though they didn't see this (unless they saw it on Twitter) I believe we, as a group, did role model what we expect from our students.

3) Overall Reflections
The Red Kite Alliance day was brilliant. The speakers were inspirational. But the opportunity it provided for collaboration was the highlight for me. As I was on the train home and reflected on the day I began comparing the opportunity that I had received as a qualified professional with the opportunities that I give my students in my lessons.

I was struck by how successfully we had completed the task. Two of my group of four teachers I had not met before. Yet we were still able to produce something with a lasting value that I, for one, will use time and again.

Why was it successful?
Collaboration
1) The Keynote speakers and facilitators had created an atmosphere that allowed our group to prosper.
2) We were given the freedom to chose which topic/problem we worked on.
3) All of us wanted to get better and improve in the area we chose.
4) We had the resources to make it happen.

I wrote the previous list 'off the cuff' but reflecting on it now it seems that it is pretty much in order of importance. Without 1) we may have just been inclined to sit there. We were only 3) because of 2). And 4) is easy to get right.

Digital Literacy
1) I had a desire to make the most of the situation and opportunity.
2) My colleagues and the facilitators didn't block me
3) I had the technology at my disposal.
4) A #tag had been set up to allow me to share our work.

This list was a little harder to compile. I still think looking back on it that it is in order of importance. Some may disagree about 3) but in my world of education technology is not a problem. Had I not had my iPad I could have used my phone. Having recently been on a facilitation programme where I was banned from using my iPad 2) was a bigger concern than you might have thought.

I do obviously give my students these opportunities to collaborate and use technology. I do strive to promote Digital Literacy and collaboration but I could do more. The #RKD3 was a great opportunity but it was also a great opportunity to remind me of what makes a successful learning atmosphere. I hadn't forgotten any of this but it was really useful to be reminded of it. 

I need to ensure that I continue to make sure that I plan the type of activities that allowed our group to be so successful on the day.

I think I may make posters of the two lists of successes above and stick them up in my classroom.